As Veterans Day approaches and we prepare for our annual ceremony at Veterans Memorial Island Sanctuary, I am reminded how important it is to honor our soldiers and I cannot stifle the feeling of apprehension at the challenges in the years ahead.

With fewer and fewer veterans, these ceremonies will be more difficult to conduct – and other efforts as well.

I grew up surrounded by Vietnam veterans. They were young adults when I was a toddler and most of the VFWs and American Legion Halls were packed with recently retired Korean War veterans and our still thriving WWII vets.

I will always consider myself privileged for such positive contact with these American heroes. But now the age of a veteran-heavy population is fading. And our society will change significantly.

Local Vietnam veteran and volunteer Floyd Dean recounted his return and the effect it had on the support in this area. “I personally think the support in this community for all veterans is fantastic. It has a lot to do with the poor welcoming home we received,” he said. “I freely express my service time, state side or abroad. I have nothing to hide and feel it is critical to talk about it.”

In WWII, America saw 12 percent of the population serve in the Armed Forces. During the Vietnam War, we had 9.7 percent serve. Entire generations could boast approximately 1 in every 10 having served in the military. This had a significant effect on the average American’s understanding of service and sacrifice.

More contact with veterans, means a deeper appreciation for service and a greater desire to memorialize our fallen; not to mention more veteran-led resources.

Veterans return home and provide valuable insight into war, loss, duty, honor, courage, commitment and all the other traits gained from service in combat operations. If you think veterans don’t strengthen your community, you are living in the wrong community.

However, during the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have less than 1 percent of the population serving. Regardless of the reasons for decreasing needs for manpower in the Armed Forces, this has a significant impact on our nation in terms of returning veterans.

Instead of veterans counting as 1 in every 10 Americans, that number shrinks to 1 in every 100.

Think of that.

All the duties our veterans have in modern society, such as running veteran support programs, educating the public on military service, conducting ceremonies and memorials, will soon be conducted by a force 90 percent smaller in size.

Whatever your business or organization, think if you had to cut 9 out of every 10 staff. Would you still be able to conduct business?

Additionally, there are significantly more Americans to educate. This 10 percent of the usual force, now must deal with 10 times as many civilians, who have an increasingly limited connection to military service.

If I was responsible for leading 100 civilians with my experience, 9 of them would also be former military. We could each educate 9 and cover the whole group. But now the other 9 service members are gone and I have to teach the 99 myself. That is the predicament we will find ourselves in in the coming years.

According to Dean, “Ten years from now many of us will no longer be on this earth. I hope and pray we are remembered with the dignity and respect we all truly deserve. I pray that we go down in history books in a positive way and that our nation may continue to learn from the mistakes of those who came before us.”

What will we lose in terms of our nation’s understanding of military service once our Vietnam Veterans pass?

And how will we, the 1 percent left, successfully memorialize the thousands of WWII, Korean, Vietnam, Cold War, Desert Storm and Shield and Peace Time service members who have gone before us?

While the thought of fewer Americans knowing the horrors of war is encouraging, should we not strive harder to remind our future generations of the men and women who paid the price for peace?

What about learning from our history? Shouldn’t we have leaders in place who know the real cost of war?

That is the burden of the 1 percent. And while many of us may feel bewildered by a strange technological battlefield, our comrades and heroes dying off at a frightening pace, I am yet encouraged because we have learned from our elders.

They have taught us well. We will not let them be forgotten.

But we need your help. Any civilian with an appreciation for military service, the mission of supporting our culture and lessons learned is going to fall to you. Start learning from our older veterans immediately.

You young veterans who have not yet been engaged, do not hide from the grey-haired veteran organizations. They won’t be around forever. And that baton is getting passed sooner than you’d think.

To start with, make sure you come out to Veterans Memorial Island Sanctuary Saturday, Nov. 11 at 9 a.m. to honor our county veterans. Then call us and get involved.

Capt. Doy Demsick is the Program Manager of the Veterans Council of Indian River County, supporting all IRC veterans through the collective effort of veterans' organizations, civic associations and the local community, thereby raising awareness of veterans' needs and of their contributions to society.